This disclosure pertains generally to the field of a variety of musical instruments, and more specifically, yet not limited to, an electric guitar, to alter audio feedback frequencies, and enhance desirable acoustic overtones and sustain when played at high levels of electric amplification.
Historically electrically amplified musical instruments, such as acoustic and semi-hollow body guitars, have been difficult to amplify dependably at a high level of volume. When musical instruments are electrically amplified at high levels of volume, they often produce undesirable audio feedback frequencies; such as high-pitched squealing and squelching. Playing such electrically amplifying guitars, in smaller venues and at lower levels of amplification, will not always produce these undesirable aspects of audio feedback. However, while performing in large concert halls, auditoriums and areas, there is typically the need to electrically amplify guitars at a much higher volume. The essential problem is controlling those undesirable high-pitched squealing and squelching aspects of audio feedback while electrically amplifying the instrument at greater volumes.
Audio feedback, also known as acoustic feedback (or the Larsen effect) is a special kind of positive loop gain which occurs when a sound loop exists between an audio input (for example, a microphone or guitar pickup) and an audio output (for example, a power amplified loudspeaker). In this example, a signal received by the guitar is amplified and passed out of the loudspeaker. The sound-wave from the loudspeaker can then be received by the guitar again, amplified further, and then passed out through the loudspeaker again. This reaction from guitar—to amplifier—to speaker repeats itself and is incrementally augmented. The frequency of the resulting sound is determined by: resonance frequencies in the guitar, amplifier, loudspeaker, the acoustics of the room, the directional pick-up and emission patterns of the guitar and loudspeaker, and the distance between them. In physics, resonance is the tendency of a system to vibrate with increasing amplitudes at some frequencies of excitation. These are known as the system's resonant frequencies (or resonance frequencies). The resonator may have a fundamental frequency and any number of harmonics.
The device and method of the present disclosure may mechanically alter much of the undesirable audio feedback frequencies while enhancing the desirable characteristics, such as resonance, the sustaining of notes and chords, overtones and harmonic overtones frequencies.
In the past several decades there have been many attempts by other inventors to control or diminish the aforementioned undesirable audio feedback frequencies; as well as to replicate the more desirable characteristic audio feedback frequencies. However, other inventors have approached this issue by using software, digital produced sound (DPS), and electronic methods to achieve a desired result. Utilizing software, DPS, and electronic methods to rectify these issues have created products that can sound homogenized or suppressed; not producing the true or natural sustain, resonance, overtones and harmonic overtones.
One of these inventions is called a Sustainer Pick Up. The Sustainer Pick Up is an electro-magnetic guitar pick up that artificially produces sustain for notes and chords at many levels of amplification. This product does achieve some desired results yet lacks the genuine overtones and harmonic overtone frequencies that occur naturally.
A similar parallel would point to the arguments about the quality of Hi-Fidelity musical recordings produced on “vinyl”—verses the advent of digital sound production. There is good evidence that digitally produced recordings, using “Dolby NR”, have less clarity and less sound spectrum that do not capturing the complete sound band, due to the sound frequencies being digitally compressed in the transfer to CD or DVD discs. Though many benefits of Dolby NR are notable, the down side of its use in recording was the loss of fidelity. Over the past few decades, scores of young and aging consumers have rediscovered the benefits of the original Hi-Fidelity analog recordings of music; and the market for “vinyl” is back.